Posted by Brett Duran on Nov 16, 2014 in Kitchen | Comments Off on Solving Common Kitchen Problems – a Clogged Sink

A clogged garbage disposal is a real pain to have to deal with. Possibly the only thing worse is when you decide to fix it yourself, get part way through the project, remove the clog, and then realize that you’re not sure how to put it all back together again and you end up needing to call in the professionals, like these guys at Appliance Masters – http://austinappliancemasters.com. Trust me, if it happened to you, you’re not the first! So today I’m looking at the latter part of putting the disposal and sink drain back together. Maybe it can help you out of your current situation…

I’m going to take the screw and part here off and then I’ve got my washer inside again, the washer, the flat side of the washer right here goes on last so I’m going to put the skinny part there, now the key to this putting everything back together, this is the last piece we took off so we’re going to put this on first, I want for you is to take a close up look at the washer here, there’s a flat side and then there’s a….I guess a tapered side, you want to put the flat side up first, so how this goes back on, just to refresh your memory, put the washer back on first then put the…I’m sorry, so how this works is you put the screw top on first, you put the flat edge going up with the tapered in down, okay? So that’s up there, up and out of the way, push this washer back.

Theirs is the connecter there as well and then fit the two pieces back together and then screw everything on like so and that way you have a good hand tied connection, again I only do it hand tied, now move back to soft….just a little bit because once I put this connector back on at the top, the screw top, it’s going to interfere with the little tabs and it’s the same thing on yours as well so I don’t want to interfere just right now, so I’m going to take this, now tighten up okay? Now we’re going to do the same thing here, this is the p-trap and again I’m going to put the screw top on first and then the flat side of the washer goes up. I’m going to ahead and….now obviously it makes sense if it’s already fitted, which side goes in, so I’m going to go ahead and put this in first, make this connection here.

I’m going to screw this on, the bottom piece on first, the reason is because of the….I don’t know how to make this so this is going to obviously make the, be the determining factor here, now when you’re screwing these on make sure that you have each part of it square because you don’t want to start across threading and that’s so easy to do with this plastic going in so I’m going to go ahead and square it up, make sure that its own there correctly while I’m adjusting it, okay? Take that and now my final piece here and again, the tabs sometimes according to how close, this is pretty close, the tabs will interfere to some degree but there is enough flexibility in the PVC, in the plastic here for it to connect, okay everything is hand tied, there and there now the secret to all this, all this work here is to make sure that there are no leaks so how I’m going to do this is to put a couple of pieces of paper towel underneath here to check it.

Turn the water on, flush it out, make sure everything drains really good in the upper parts, both the left and right part of your double sink and you’re reading to go, okay we’re ready to go ahead and test so just turn the water on here, make sure it doesn’t have any drips and I’m looking at the paper right here to see if I have any drips there and on that side, let’s test it on this side and there are no drips there, so now we’re completely ready and finished with this and that’s how you test to see if you have a leak underneath your sink.

Posted by Brett Duran on Feb 22, 2015 in Blog | Comments Off on Make Your Rental Property As Marketable As Possible

When transforming a space it’s always a good idea to add character and personality to your walls, especially if you’re planning on your property being on the market, whether for sale, a short term furnished rental (http://extendedstay-tucson.com), or for more traditional tenants. Paint is a great back up option, but wallpaper can really become a great feature. For this project, we wanted to elevate three rooms in a client’s home as they prepared to move overseas for a year and put this home up as a temporary furnished rental home.

When we first walked in, the hallway had great bones, it had a flood of natural light coming in. There was a great runner up the stairs, there was beautiful paneling all around, but it lacked a bit of color and we really wanted to bring it all together.

When we first saw the living room, it was beautiful, the homeowner was definitely ready for a change. She was ready to embrace some more color and pattern and add something exciting. I think the first thing we noticed is that this room lacked the focal point, which we decide to bring in. The last room we wanted to tackle was a bathroom that was newly renovated and it was the perfect blank canvas for us to play around with. So for these three spaces we knew that wallpaper was the answer.

We wanted to have as many options as possible and also make this is as easy as possible. So we went to the Walls Republic website. We had three spaces to consider, so we really took our time and went through the website and ordered, basically, everything that caught our eye and it was great because Walls Republic sent us samples for free and within twenty-four hours and when we were looking at the ones for the entrance, two really stood out. We had a darker purple, kind of a Damask print and the a yellow painterly, almost Asian, bird print.

When we were thinking about what to do in the living room, we decided we only wanted to paper the chimney breast and there were two strong options that we found. One was a beautiful Damask print and the other was a beautiful watercolor floral. The Damask felt a bit more contemporary than we wanted to go in such a traditional space, so we had her heart fed on the floral. And what was great about the floral, they had a lot of colors that we could pick out and put that onto the wall with pins[?].

We went a lot more modern with our picks for the bathroom because the bathroom was pretty slick and we had a full geometric print and many colorways because we couldn’t make up our minds and kind of a barn wood finish, which is super funky. In the end, we decided that we loved the geometric, but we went for a more subtle colorway, just to keep it sort of quiet and not too overwhelming in this small space. And I think it actually took us longer to pick the wallpapers than to actually receive them, because once we put our order in, it took a few days and we were ready to roll. The installer we got was working magic on these walls.

She started from the middle, worked her way out and really, it was quite impressive. The entrance way and hallway is such a great molding and paneling, such wonderful bones and this paper just complimented that perfectly. I love how the yellow just shines when it gets flooded with sunlight. I think that the little bird print is just so perfectly classic and beautiful. It’s a very cheerful entrance and I’m really happy about the fact that we were able to keep her original artwork, which had a very Asian feel, because that paper, even though it can read as very traditional, it has a little bit of an Asian flavor to it, doesn’t it?

I think it’s always hard to put a nail in your brand new wallpaper and hang something on top of it, but I don’t think people should be afraid of that. It looks amazing in this space. There was such a great idea on your part to put the original prints back up there. I could not be more excited about the chimney breast in the living room turned out. I love that we picked blue, which already existed in the room and the painterly quality is just so pretty. It gave us a focal point in the room and was the perfect artistic hit that we needed.

And if you think about it, although wallpapers are a bit of an investment, if you were to get a piece of art that was that same size and scale, it would be a lot more expensive. When we first saw this space, we noticed those big pink floral prints that she had framed`, they were beautiful and we liked the scale of them, so we knew that she would be very happy with having the same kind of idea on her chimney breast.

Third room we did was the basement bathroom. We decided to go bold with our geometrical print, but then scaled it back a bit by using a tone on tone color. And because this room was small enough, we decided to wrap it all around, which added a good amount of impact and texture without overwhelming the space. I really love how this wallpaper print kind of look like a hex tile, but without the cost of it.

It really turned the bathroom, kind of a basic bathroom, to a very decorative space. The biggest lesson here that we learned was, “don’t be afraid of wallpaper, don’t feel overwhelmed”, because it was a lot of fun and it was a lot easier than we anticipated. We just need to think about where the wallpaper is going, what scale might look good in that space, what color you want and I think, most importantly, you just have to love it. If you fall in love with the paper, you can, most certainly, make it work somewhere.

Posted by Brett Duran on Feb 17, 2015 in Blog | Comments Off on Professional Appliance Service – Checking the Washer Pressure Switch

I recently had to call in for some help with our family washing machine that wasn’t working right. I didn’t have time or want to risk messing things up, so I opted to simply call in the professionals at Austin Appliance Repair Masters (http://austinappliancemasters.com) to fix this one for us. They were great – they showed up on time, took care of things quickly and efficiently, and even let me record what he was doing so I could make notes and share the whole process with you here. So without further ado, here’s my most recent visit with the Appliance Masters.

Okay, what we’re going to be doing here today is checking the pressure switch on this washer that needs a repair. What the pressure switch does is control the water level in the washer. And this one’s not quite filling up as far as it should, so we’re going to check that out. This is a Kenmore Model here. We need to pull this apart…if you’re not familiar with how these come apart; we have another video that will show you how to disassemble this. And, it would under a Whirlpool style. So, come on it let’s take a closer look and see what we’ve got here.

Okay, now that we have the cover apart. We’ll put this over here. And this is our pressure switch located up here. It’s right behind the knob that controls your load level. And you’ll see this rubber hose coming down; it comes down to this chamber down here. The way this works, is as your water level fills up, it creates pressure in this chamber, which trips this switch. The pressure will trip this switch here.

Okay, here, so what we’re doing, is I’m going to disconnect this hose…I’m going to disconnect it here…and, actually, I can see right in here…I don’t know if you can see that in the video, it’s got some gunk built up in there, so we’re going to clean that out, and actually, and I think that’s what was preventing the pressure switch from tripping…so, it didn’t know how much water was in here…

So, what I am going to do is grab my multi-meter…it’s the here, and I’m going to set this one, on the ohm setting and what we’re going to do, is we’re going to make sure this is working properly…we’re going to check it for continuity…and all that is saying that there’s making contact across the switch, and my end…got this set for continuity…mine makes a little beep when…makes continuity…

So the easy way to check this is here…we’ll just come over to these wires here, and now you can see what we want to do is, we want to get on this brown wire here, and this purple wire there…and I want to take this hose…and, I’ve cleaned off the end here…there’s probably a lot of bacteria and stuff, and what I want to do is blow into this to create the illusion of pressure, and it should trip this switch…and, we should here my multi-meter beep.

Okay, make sure you get a good contact here, so this switch is working properly, it was just a matter of cleaning out the hose, and if there’s any, any holes in this tube also…you need to replace that tube there.

Okay, this here is a close-up view of the pressure switch, and the hose…routing down…to the chamber…on the side here…you can see that. I hope this information helped you out.

Posted by Brett Duran on Feb 2, 2015 in Blog | Comments Off on Design Ideas For Your Tucson Short Term Rental Properties

When you make the decision to put your property on the market as a rental, there are a number of things you really need to consider, especially if you decide to do what we did and go the Tucson short term rental property route (http://extendedstay-tucson.com/). We realized a couple of things right away – first, we didn’t want to be the ones to manage it day-to-day. And second, that to really give it the best chance of getting rented during the prime times, we needed expert advice on how to set it up as a corporate housing, furnished rental property, which is exactly what we did.

This is the bedroom in my rental apartment. When I moved in, it was a complete blank canvas. It was all white, no storage, the closet is so small, it’s so shallow that you can’t run a rail for your clothes along the side, it had to be two short rails. So I have maybe two feet of hanging. Needed everything in terms of character, in terms of storage, it was just completely blank.

So the first thing that I did was I measured up the hole room and I drew up the paneling for myself, just to give myself an idea of how I wanted to work it out. I was also looking for some storage solutions and I found this hanging system at Ikea and so I drew that in as well and I just gave myself a conceptual basis of what I wanted to do and when I was really satisfied with that, I went and I bought the paneling and started to play it.

Comes in just long pieces, like twelve feet long and I cut all of it offsite and then brought it back and started installing it. You have to draw down on the wall and then you start with the really critical pieces that need to be leveled and establish your levels going around the room, which was a challenge in this room because the building it’s so old that the floors and ceilings aren’t leveled at all anymore.

So it was a bit tricky, but it was a one person job. It wasn’t hard to do. I think the applied moulding sort of brings in the architectural history of the room, it’s the way I envisioned this space might of been at one point.Since then it’s been renovated over and over and over again. So, who knows what it used to be? So, in my mind, I’m bringing back the history.

On top of the paneling, I’d seen an image where someone had just painted this really bright hatch on the wall that had paneling, but they ignored where the paneling was, it didn’t relate to the paneling. And I though, in a room where I don’t have a lot of depth for a headboard and I don’t want to spend a lot of money on something I might not be able to use in my next place, why not paint a headboard on the wall and play with that layering of pigment on top of that architectural detail?

Once the paneling has been taking care of, there were a lot of little finishing details that I needed a hand pulling together, so some of my friends from House and Home came over and helped me out. I was able now to bring in a lot of my clothing that it been hanging in my front hall and take care of my shoes which were hidden away in all kind of places around the apartment.

And then, also, this bed that I got at Ikea has drawers underneath, so it gives me tons of storage for things like linens and towels and big bulky sweaters, stuff like that. I generally like something that it’s a little bit playful. I knew that I wanted to do suspended sort of bedside lighting, but I didn’t want to have really bulky bedside tables. I went just with a storage basket for some concealed storage, but then I also got this flooding shelves that have all the books, that functions as bedside table because that’s basically all that’s ever on my bedside table, a big stack of books.

So, in my mind, there was sort of a funny moment to make my bedside table actually out of books. Personally, I have a really eclectic style, I mean, you can see with putting on paneling, which is a bit a sort of a historic classic look, but then doing fun things like mixing an eye cat print, painting the headboard on the wall, some non-traditional stuff. And, also, older pieces of furniture that have been in my family for a while and I really wanted to incorporate them into the space and have a little bit of character of things that hadn’t been created right away, but have actual historical meaning as well.

I think I did go a little bit beyond what the average person might do in a rental space, I really like to take the opportunity to transform something and also to explore, it was an opportunity for me to try it out. I know that I am going to be here for a few years and so, it matter to me to put the time in to really establish myself here and to know that I am going to be in a space that I really love.

Posted by Brett Duran on Dec 12, 2014 in Kitchen | Comments Off on Fixing a Dishwasher That Leaks From the Bottom of the Door

Today I am going to show you how to fix a leaking dishwasher door. If your dishwasher is leaking from the corners here underneath the door, chances are it’s the gasket that is the problem, it’s the seal that goes around the door. If your dishwasher has a leak coming from underneath the dishwasher, creeping out of the kitchen floor, you need to remove this panel and you probably have a failed hose or a failed pump. That would be a different How To article. In the meantime, if you do find yourself with a failed pump and you’re not sure what to do, you can always call in a professional like the guys at Appliance Masters (http://lasvegasappliancemasters.com/)to help you..

In this one, what you do is you open your dishwasher and you can see this black trim going all the way around. Sometimes that can get damaged or just smashed, so that’s what needs to be replaced. Before we do that, make sure that these screws around the door are tightened. If they are sticking up and you are trying to close the door, it’s going to push the door away from the main body of the dishwasher and it’s going to create a gap in which the water can come out.

So if those screws are loose, tighten them and that might be what fixes your problem. In my case, you can see this gasket is smashed and damaged, it has a hole in it. It’s really easy to take out, you just yank it and that’s it. To order a new one, you are going to need to know your model type and if you open the door and look right here on the sticker, you can see this model number there. You don’t need the serial number, just the model number. So go online, type in your dishwasher model number and you can type in door gasket.

I’ve got mine from Amazon at about thirty-five dollars and in this parts bag they include this latch that’s for the top of the door, underneath the cabinet. This is just to replace it, if you have an old plastic one, because those fail. So if you have a metal one and it’s all working fine, you just throw the new latch that they give you away and don’t worry about it. Here you can see the old gasket and the new one, they’re not an exact match at all, it works anyway, but… The old one is actually thicker and probably constructed a bit better than the new ones.

It has a very thin wall that can probably easily get ripped, but… And if you notice, the barbs are also different, they don’t look the same. And before I do the real install, here is how it inserts, you can see it just fits in this little groove. So tuck it in tight on the bottom corner and just work your way up. You’ll probably have to go back and forth a few times, making sure it’s in. It’s not hard at all to fit this in, except the corners. They take a little bit of work. You need to pull it as you push it in.

That gets rid of the extra slack and it makes a nice corner. So just keep working it all the way across the top, pushing in every spot. I am not pulling tight, except for the corners, I pull it a little bit. Here on this corner, you can see that is not how you want it to look, that is not going to do a good job sealing. On this side, you can see it went in just right. So pull it out and when you smashing it in, pull on it a little bit and that will stretch it, so that the corner is nice and straight and not wobbly.

And just feed it all the way down into the bottom and you can get a pair of scissors and cut off the rest. Smash it down in the corner and that’s about it. I hope that’s been helpful to you, if so, please click Like, and feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be able to benefit from it.

More tips on fixing a Leaky Dishwasher…

Posted by Brett Duran on Dec 2, 2014 in Blog | Comments Off on Helpful Tips And Advice For Home Improvement

Make Your Home Imporvement Projects Easier With This Advice

When you are a seller wanting to make your home look its very best for buyers, one of the most common things that you can do is to work on your yard and outside appearance. Check your light fixtures to make sure that they are clean and working and replace them if you need to. Maybe try making a small vegetable garden in your backyard since most people enjoy some type of gardening.

Try painting stripes on the walls prior to panel installation. It always seems as if the old wall peeks through no matter how careful you are. To start, simply measure where the panels meet. Try to select a color of paint that matches as closely as possible.

Adding insulation to your walls, crawl spaces and attics isn't something that a lot of people think about when it comes to improving your home, but they should. Adding insulation is a great way to make your home cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and more sound proof.

Seriously reconsider adding a swimming pool to your backyard. A pool can be an enjoyable addition to a home. What some people fail to realize is that they are also very expensive. Not only are there the initial costs to consider, there is also the cost of regular upkeep. Make sure you have the money and time required, to keep your pool area from falling into disrepair, before you spend the money on it.

Contractors

Make sure that you keep an eye out for all types of contractors. You want to make sure that you get a contractor with a good reputation, as well as, an affordable price before you have them improve your home. You don't want to be stuck with paying a bill that you can't afford or a project that's half finished because the contractor decided to stop coming, half-way through the project.

When working with a contractor to do a home renovation, decide on the whole project at the beginning and stick to that plan. Constantly changing the plan can slow down the renovation process and scare off your contractor from doing anything independently. Also, constantly changing renovations often end up looking piecemeal, since they weren't created with a clear vision in mind.

If you have a large garden but would like more indoor living space, adding a conservatory is one home improvement you should consider. A conservatory will provide an additional room to your house that will be filled with natural light. The room can be used for moonlit dinners, home gym equipment, sun lounges and much more. The structure is also likely to catch the eye of potential buyers and increase the resale value of your home.

Posted by Brett Duran on Dec 2, 2014 in Blog | Comments Off on Thoughts on Kitchen Remodels and More

Kitchen remodeling is generally a sound investment for helping enhance your home's appeal and resale value in the future when it comes to updating.

An entire living area or one room, it's essential when arranging a remodeling project that you just consider your complete house. Renovation of kitchen is totally transformed of design.

Kitchen Appliances and the Work Triangle: I've built several custom homes, finished light commercial jobs and have done important entire house remodeling, but have chosen to specialize in kitchen as well as bathroom remodeling. Actually, dated light fixtures are a fantastic spot to begin for kitchen remodeling — for instance, big fixtures that house overhead fans or fluorescent bulbs using a light kit.

A good design staff has special certifications including Certified Active Adult Specialist and Certified Aging-in Place Specialist to assist you in making sound decisions about Universal Design in your remodeling job. Finishing or remodeling a lower level is among the most economical ways to add livability essential space and value to your home. Kitchen cabinets are built for storage of food, cooking equipment, etc. of furniture in kitchen

Well-organized accessories take up less space, so taking the time to correctly stow them is going to be a lifesaver. Specialty cabinets and accessories are offered to match organizational demands and your style. The starting point for every kitchen is cabinetry.

Keep accessories to a minimum to prevent a cluttered look. For example, a petite kitchen island can provide a spot for preparing food and storing kitchen items. Consider knocking out a non-load bearing wall between dining area to boost the physical space in a small kitchen or a kitchen and living.

Use higher approximations for larger metropolitan areas and the lower approximations where house prices are below the national average. Stretch your cash as far as you can into several areas to keep your kitchen design pretty well matched.

You know you want to do something to make your kitchen look better you are simply not sure what. We provide kitchen design alternatives that enhance your lifestyle! We work with all the industry's top manufacturers and suppliers to bring you the ideal selection of other substances for your new kitchen, appliances, and kitchen cabinets.

Your kitchen and bathroom are the most utilized rooms in the house and also the most complicated to design and remodel. A modular kitchen should be considered by you to increase your space. Using vibrant colours might make your kitchen look smaller.

Allow all of friends and family, relatives, and guests to feel welcome in your kitchen by choosing a handy kitchen layout which may be used by all, including your younger guests.

Posted by Brett Duran on Nov 24, 2014 in Basic Electric | Comments Off on Basic Electric Circuits and Home Appliance Troubleshooting

Understanding the basics of electric circuits can go a long way in allowing you to help yourself when it comes to many common problems around the house, including dealing with a wide variety of home appliance repairs. Not that you’ll be able to do everything that a professional repair tech can do, but you will be able to save yourself some money on house calls.

Plus, when you do need to have someone with professional training come out and help you, you’ll be able to ask relevant, intelligent questions, and you might even be able to mooch a bit of free education off of them as they go about doing your repair. I always love doing that (both sides of the equation, actually – both the mooch and the teacher! Lol). It’s a great way to learn more… watch over the shoulder as someone with more experience does what you can’t do on your own. It’s not only the way I got into the fixing things, including appliances, way back when I was a kid, it’s also an attitude I look for in all the technicians I hire at Appliance Masters – someone who is equally interested in learning as they are in teaching. Because we can all always learn from one another.

So anyway, there are a few techniques used for identifying what kind of problem you are dealing with when it comes to electric circuits, and point you in the right direction to locate it. There are two main types of circuits having the same key elements: A power source, conductors, load, and a control device.

The two types of circuits are series circuits and parallel circuits.

Series circuits are formed when two or more components, or loads, which offer resistance to the circuit, are replaced in series. When a problem such as the ones I described earlier happens, the entire circuit fails.

The other style, a parallel circuit, is when two or more components or loads are placed in parallel. In this style of circuit, depending on where the problem occurs, one component may fail while the other components remain unaffected. Many appliances use circuits that have both styles in one circuit and this is called a series parallel circuit.

Now you may be saying, “You said this was easy!” Anything worth doing takes some time and practice to master.

Now you know the four key elements of a circuit and the three most common problems that can cause your appliance to call in sick. This is a solid foundation of information to get you started.

Most appliance problems happen when a particular component fails to work properly, or a control device, like a thermostat, door switch, or timer, fails to open or close when it should. Each of these component failures gives clear signs as to the cause of the problem and where to start looking.

The easiest way to troubleshoot most appliance problems is by these symptoms, such as a dryer that will run with no heat, a refrigerator that is cold in the freezer but not the fresh food section, a washer that does nothing when it should spin, or a dead dishwasher.

These clues will tell you where to look, and with a little practice you are well on your way to experiencing the satisfaction that comes from solving your own home appliance problems.

I watched my father work on building and re-building, renovating and remodeling homes for years back in the UK, and in more recent years, here in the US. Eventually, all that ladder climbing, lifting and hammer swinging is bound to catch up with a guy I guess...

So after about 50 years in the business, the tendonitis in his various joints got so bad I was finally able to convince him to lay down the tools and let me take over for him.

Of course there is no replacement for experience, or for passion and knowledge on a subject, so that’s why we decided to come together and put up this blog – a place where he can still be involved in all the different facets of the work he did and loved, only now he’s just sitting at a keyboard, sharing his experience (or more likely, *I* will be sitting at the keyboard, conveying his experiences and knowledge through to our readers here).

We’ll be drawing on not only my father’s experience, but also from that of his many friends and acquaintances that he’s made over the years in the business, allowing them to contribute their little niche specialties to our on-going list of informative articles. We’re glad you joined us and we hope you’ll find what you’re looking for here.